Save money and the environment

IRONS: A typical iron uses 1600W of power which is more than a vacuum cleaner, toaster or microwave. Do you really need carefully ironed fitted sheets, socks and pyjamas? EcoFrenzy suggest some ideas to save time, money and energy spent ironing so you can do better things with your time!

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Rather than ironing you could put shirts (or other clothes) in a dryer with an ice cube, set to medium and run for 15 minutes. The ice cube will turn to steam which helps remove wrinkles. Hang the shirts up immediately after removing them from the dryer so that the wrinkles don’t come back.

Sacrilege we hear you say, the clothes dryer is very expensive to run. Or is it?

Take 10 shirts

15 minutes in a 2kW tumble dryer =

7p

To iron out wrinkles takes 5 minutes each with a 1.6kW iron = 50 minutes =

19p

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Minimise the need for ironing by less spinning after your wash cycle and hanging clothes out to dry straight away. The water still in the clothes will work with gravity to pull

most wrinkles out ​

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Most clothes iron manufacturers use different terminology for the same features, making choosing the right product for you

more difficult​​

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The Furniture Reuse Network has an interactive map which will find your nearest re-use charity and many of these will take working electrical goods such as your iron. There is also the option of donating them to someone else through sites such as​

Click these icons wherever you see them for tips when buying new products.

EcoFrenzy has researched the market and to the best of our knowledge, figures and data are accurate at the time of publication. EcoFrenzy is not responsible for any inaccuracies and will not engage in correspondence, but will update facts and figures when necessary or appropriate.​

The data we use to work out energy and water costs come from a range of reliable international sources to give an average figure. Figures are rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.​* Total amounts potentially saved do not include lighting in individual rooms, or use of secondary heating.

When purchasing a new iron, search for these money saving and environmentally friendly features.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY SHUT OFFThe automatic safety shut off feature cools down the iron's plate completely when not in use for a certain amount of time.

EASY FILL WATER RESERVOIRCheck that the water reservoir of a steam iron is easy to fill and the iron has a few steam vents.

WARMING TIMEHow long does the iron take to warm up? How long does it take to re-heat?

VARIABLE SETTINGS?Does it have variable heat/fabric settings, from delicate fabrics to cotton/wool?

​SELF-CLEAN FEATURE?​Does it have a self-clean feature? Some types of clothes iron use a burst of steam to clear the holes in the sole plate.

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REDUCEThink before you buy. Ask yourself if you really need it.

REUSEBuy reusable, refillable or rechargeable products rather than disposable ones. You can also take your used items to ‘freecycle’ organisations to have them reused.

BUY LOCAL Look for products produced more locally. Locally produced means less transportation, less greenhouse gases and supports your local economy.

AVOID EXCESSIVE PACKAGINGTry to purchase products with less packaging, but if you can't, try to find a product that comes in a package made of recycled material, or one that can be recycled afterwards.​​LOOK FOR LONGEVITYAlthough an item may cost more initially, if running costs are less and it lasts 4 times longer, it is better for your pocket and the environment.​​